I would have bumped the August voting thread but it's been locked.
Any sign of the results of the August comp? By my calculations I think we may have had a draw.

The person with the most first place votes will win, if the scores are tied.

I was wondering about the next comp, but I think Al may be still in the hospital. Although I thought he had left. Hope he's ok.

Does anybody have any news on Al's well-being?

I do

First of all many apologies for my absence. Apart from the hospital thing, I've got an 8 year old with attitude to deal with and am under the threat of redundancy. So, short story - kids/hospital/work. Forgetting about the kids and work I would like to expand a little on the hospital thing.......

So, you all know that I broke my neck a couple of years ago following a rapid shift of mother earth approximately 3 feet towards the north pole (I was on my bike at the time). That was the good news...... I've been having a bit of bother with the left hand side of the bod and (cutting a long story short) I have Ankylosing Spondilitis (AS) which is the fusing of the bones in the spine. I'm starting to stoop which is affecting my aviation photography but the real bad news is that it's a form of rheumatism. Apart from not being able to use my left hand much (ok for gear changes etc) and having pain in my shoulder and every other joint in the bod, the main side-effect is fatigue. I can sleep for 12 hours and wake up so tired I could sleep for another 12 hours. The recent hospital visit was basically a fact finding visit to see how bad I was and it's not good There is no cure for AS but with regular physio, steriod injections and daily exercise, it can be stemmed. I'm on anti-inflammatory drugs which double as pain killers but there are flare-ups where the bod almost shuts down. When I have a flare-up, I have to go into hospital until it bogs off. The rest of the time I have regular hospital visits about every 2-3 months for a fortnight at a time - well I say hospital visits, it's more like a spa I'm looked after by a great team consisting of one of the UK's leading consultants in the disease, a cracking group of nurses and a team of young female physios. I have two daily sessions in the hydrotherapy pool, physio sessions in the afternoons and that's about it. The nurses won't let you do a thing but if you want a snack, tea or coffee, nothing is too much trouble for them. Wednesday is when the consultant does his rounds and in the evening there is a special pool session of the National Ankylosing Spondilitis Society (NASS).

So there we have it. Given that I'm going to be away a lot and have sporadic access to the forums I have to ask if you want me to continue running the piccy comp or does anybody want to step in and take over? Either way I'm happy but I don't think it's fair to disappear and leave you all hanging.

Over to you......

Al

PS - has nobody done this months scoring???? Lazy sods I'm on it...

Do you expect us to believe that excuse?

I hope I speak for lazy people everywhere when I say I'd be delighted for you to keep running the photo comp, however in the future you must be a little clearer about when voting finishes.

wow where is this? doesn't sound like anywhere near the morayshire region you have described them as too human!

Welcome back Al.

I did work out the scores but obviously didn't know who was who (although I suspect I could have guessed a few).
Results I got were as follows:

1 - From Brunnel to BAe, 19 points (3 first choices)
2 - Family Seat, 19 points (1 first choice)
3 - These Lifeless Things, 18 points
4 - Curious Bedfellows, 16 points
5 - Artistic Powerhouse, 10 points
6 - Steam On The Go, 7 points (1 first choice)
7 - Motoring Heritage, 7 points (0 first choices)
8 - Arboricultural Heritage, 3 points

I'll let the adjudicator (Al) check if I can add up and add the entrants details).

Welcome back Al, now, if you could have the fortnight in the spa every quarter, without the symptoms... That would be a cushy number.

Dealing with a 16 year old with attitude at the moment, and was given my redundancy notice in May... I found a job 2 weeks back and start next month (using up my holiday from the old job at the moment) and the 16 year old is gradually settling down again, although the mood swings are a pain. So there is always hope. I'll keep my fingers crossed, that things work out for you.

I think I've seen that DVD.


Seriously, I had no idea of your accident and current condition, but it does sound quite painful and debilitating. Hope you're feeling better soon.

I've got an idea that may or may not be worth looking into... What would you guys think of having a comp' every two months instead of monthly? It would mean that people who don't get out with their cameras as often as they would like, (I mean me, obviously) would have longer to find something worth entering, (which is the only reason I haven't entered as regularly as I would like) and I'm guessing that with a bit more time the already high standards and the number of entries may increase. It would also, (hopefully) make it easier for Al to handle.

What do you think...? You won't offend me if you say it's a dumb ass idea, by the way!

I think we always have lots of entries at the start, with people thinking, ooh i have one that suits this theme, and then a rush of entries at the end. I don't think increasing the amount of time between judging will change that very much.

Personally, I'd be very happy for you to continue Al, if you want to do it; you've done a great job. I'm very sorry to read of your recent trials and wish you all the very best in managing your AS.

I'd throw the bi-monthly suggestion to Al, its a question of workload.

Agreed.



It might just be me then but I have always, (OK, the one time I actually entered!) thought that entries were meant to be pictures we'd taken for the comp, not just any old pic taken from our archives.

IIRC it was advised a little while back that using archive material was not against the letter of the rules but some, myself included, view it as being against the spirit of the rules. FWIW I find that taking the shot during the month is part of both the challenge and the value of this comp, it makes you think and make the best of what you have at the time. There have been some inspired and unexpected shots as a result.

my viewpoint is that I try and get a photo for the month and thus there's been a few times I haven't entered because I haven't gone out and got the picture but I wouldn't want two months.
Al'd done fantastic hosting this comp, so I don't mind the slight hiatus just as long as he's all right but you could have the odd two months comp in between the monthly one.